The first real jaguar was also one of the first post-war supercars. A favourite with royalty in India, the XK120 is also the car that helped build jaguar.

This is a car I have been itching to drive since I was sixteen. Not any Jaguar XK120, but this particular car, BMU 1259, the car you see on this page. At the time, of course it was impossible. Not only did I not have a license, the car itself lay in a barn in Aundh, near Satara in Maharashtra. In no condition to be driven, the car was in desperate need of restoration. But that didn’t prevent my friend Baba and me from dreaming. The car belonged to his father, the erstwhile ruler or Pratinidhi of Aundh, and hadn’t muved for many years. We planned who would restore the body, which workshop we would get the straight six overhauled in, which Jaguar specialist would supply us parts from the UK and most importantly where we would drive it after the work was done. But that dream came to an abrupt end as my friend tragically lost his life on a Yamaha V-Max.

Now, two decades on, current owner Vikram Singh is about to let me have a go in this ravishing beauty. We’re in Jaipur, where he lives, and we have an early start planned. Jaipur traffic gets particularly crazy after nine in the morning, as oversized mustachioed Rajput pride meets road rage and narrow cart lanes. The last thing you want to do here is subject the rolling sculpture that the XKi120 is to this mayhem.

On the morning, palpitation and excitement are massive. What would it be like to drive? I already know close to every detail that there is to know about the car. I know that the 3442cc straight six on this car makes close to 180bhp due to mods the car came with (the standard car makes approximately 160bhp). I remember the car weighs in at around 1300 kilograms and that means it has a phenomenal power-to-weight ratio. I also know it has a unique double wishbone torsion bar suspension that does not use coil springs, giving it good front-end grip. And that despite having the power-to-weight ratio of a modern sports car, it uses a leaf sprung rear suspension and drum brakes. Drum brakes! In a car that can do 200!

Just then Sir William Lyons’ masterpiece comes burbling into view, up to the hotel porch. I can see only part of the car, the nose and the windscreen, but what a sight. I’m grinning like I can’t remember. It looks like a silver sculpture, as headlights, bonnet and wings flow forward like a surfer’s dream wave breaking over. I see more of the car as I walk forward and follow the line down the side as it drops and then rises again over the rear wheel arch.

If it’s difficult to imagine the effect this car had when launched, just think of the Bugatti Veyron. It must have had a similar effect Every other car in its time had a vertically placed radiator and freestanding headlamps. And few made more than 35bhp. Legend has it that Jaguar founder Lyons only decided to make the show car at the very last minute And has mere weeks to complete the design and mount it on the new Mark V’s chassis But it sure dosen’t look like a hurried job.

Back in the car, the motor is ticking over extremely smoothly, with as much refinement as a modern car. Incredible for a car that was made in the 1950s (this particular car was made on May 22, 1951). Of course, it helps that the compression ratio is only 8:1.But at the time even this was too much for the post-war low-octane fuel. Most people, his own engineers included, thought Lyons to be a nutter for such extreme specification on a road car. Lyons had insisted that this be the first production engine in the world to have twin overhead camshafts and pushed really hard to achieve his target. The rockerless came were places in an oil bath, there were seven huge bearing and, like good drag car, all the important bits were forged and not cast.

Getting into the car is not a problem if you are the passenger. The shallow doors open wide and you can enter quite easily. For the driver though it’s much harder. The massive XXL pizza-sized steering wheel come sin the way and you need to slide your thigh through after sitting on the seat. The cutaway doors leave you strangely exposed and the first impression you get is of the massive bonnet stretching far ahead of you, the pontoon headlights poking out. No modern car has a bonnet quite this long and tight turns take some getting used to.

What you also need to keep telling yourself is that this car was the fastest and most potent sportscar in the world when launched. But that still is 50 years ago. My brain goes into a tailspin during the first few kilometers behind the wheel. More than anything else, this car rides and corners like the Ambassador I learned to drive on. It really feels that sloppy at low speeds. And for this, the once fastest car in the world, ride quality is puzzlingly good. It takes all of Jaipur’s bad patches in its stride and the tall tyres and longish wheelbase do a sterling job. The steering, however, feels more marine than automotive in its manner of functioning. The car first rolls a bit and then turns, there’s quite some play in the system and Lord help us if a stray runs out onto the road. You have to muscle the brake pedal to get the drums to works, getting your hip into it at times. And if you hit the brakes too hard, the crossply tyres are adept at doing the samba.

A wide circle comes up and I gently ease the 120 into the long corner. After the initial roll, the Jaguar actually settles down in the corner quite nicely and I can even muster the courage to add a dash of power as I exit. As I get more confident and go quicker, the cat finally starts to come alive. The steering feels more direct, the car loses some of its ponderous manner and a semblance of a natural balance emerges. Of course, the antiquated tyres don’t help much and the brakes don’t get better but then I suspect they need more than just a bit of work.

The XK motor is clearly the best bit on the car. It literally purrs when in the lower part of the power band, pulls cleanly without any jerks and, as on a large-capacity V8, you don’t need to make too many gearshifts. This fantastic flexibility lets you get away with driving in the wrong gear most of the time and that makes this car a fantastic cruiser. Lyons had increased the stroke of the motor to improve torque output and this has worked a treat. It also helps that this car had no emission norms to comply with.

The motor, however, does its best work once the counter-clockwise rotating tacho needle winds itself up past 3000rpm. Performance is now very strong, with the car taking too hoof. The note of the motor deepens, you attain modern car levels of acceleration and the surge in power carries on as you wind up the tacho. BMU 1259 is an old girl, but oh how I’d love to do an acceleration test. It sure feels like it can reach 100kph in eight seconds, and there are not too many modern cars that can do that. And though we don’t go anywhere near the mark, 200 in a well-tuned car feels eminently possible. What a car! One of the first real supercars, a car worthy of the name.